Oscillating fan.



W. M. MCEWEN.

OSCILLATING FAN.-

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14. 1915.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

WILLARD M. MQEWEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

OSCILLATING FAN.

Application filed June 14, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLARD M. MolEwnN, a citizen of the United Statesof America, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOscillating Fans, of which the following is a specification. 7

The main objects of this invention are to provide an improved form ofmechanism for swinging an electric fan simultaneously in two differentplanes, as for instance oscillating the fan horizontally and at the sametime tilting it in a vertical plane; and to provide improved mechanismof this kind which effects the oscillatory movement by the tiltingmovement. v

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in theaccompanying drawing wherein: Figure 1 is a front elevation partlysectional of an electric fan equipped with the improved mechanism. Fig.2 is a fra mentary rear end view of the upper part of the fan, some ofthe parts of the front being omitted for the sake of clearness. Fig. 3is a sectional detail of the base.-

Tn the construction shown in the drawings, the blower mechanismcomprises a fan 1, connected to a motor 2 rotatably mounted in a casing3. The casing is tiltably supported on a member or shaft 4 journaled ina supporting member or standard 5, which is rigidly supported on thebase 5.1. The fan 1 and motor 2 may be of any desired construction, thefan being provided with. the usual protecting guard 6 supported on themotor casing 3 by means of arms 7.

The connection of the motor casing 3 to the shaft- 4 comprises a lug 8formed on theunder side of the casing, Whichis pivotally connected tothe bifurcated head 9 of said shaft by a stud bolt 10. The blowermechanism is thereby supported so as to be tilted in the plane of theaxis of said shaft. A suitable connection 11 is attached to the innerend of. the shaft 1 for securing the shaft against upward longitudinalmovement in the member 5.

A sleeve or member 12 embraces the shaft 4 and is rotatably supported onthe standard 5 by means of ball bearings '13, so that it will freelyrotate independently of the shaft 4. The member 12 is provided with anintegral "transversely disposed annular flange or track 14concentrically arranged Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

Serial No. 34,025.

with respect to the shaft 11. This track is of wave-like form, and inthe form shown there is an odd number of waves so that the crowns arediametrically opposite troughs of the wave. Gear teeth 15 are formed onthe periphery of the track so as to provide an annular rack or gearwhich meshes with a pinion 16 to cause the fan to travel on the waveliketrack. Rollers 17 journaled on trunnions 18 carried by the lug 8 engagethe track 14 at diametrically opposite points, and coact with the crownsand troughs thereof, causing the fan 1 to tilt up and down in avertical'plane. The pinion 16 is carried on a shaft 19 journaled in thecasing 3 and is connected to the shaft of motor 2 by means of a worm 20and gear 21.

The blower mechanism is arranged and mounted 011 the support, so thatthe center of gravity of the entire mass thereof is located forwardly ofthe axis of oscillation for all positions of said mechanism in the rangeof the tilting movement. In the construction illustrated in thedrawings, this is accomplished by inclining the standard 5 to the base5.1, so that when the base rests on a level surface the axis of rotationof both the shaft 4 and the sleeve 12, as represented by' line A, isdisposed at an angle to a lineB, perpendicular to the base 5.1. Thisdisposition of the mass tends to keep the preponderance of weight at oneside of the axis of oscillation, whereby the driving action between thegear 16 and track 15 during the tilting back and forth is more nearlyuniform than would be the case if during the tilting the center ofgravity were first on one side of the axis and then on the other side.This type of fan, employs the same principle of oscillation as isdescribed in my copending application, Serial Number 29,129, filed May19, 1915, for electric fans, wherein by tilting the axis of rotation ofthe fan in a vertical plane gyratory forces are brought into play whichcause the fan to swing in a horizontal plane and to reverse thedirection of horizontal swinging whenever the direction of verticaltilting is-reversed. Increasing the inclination of the axis ofoscillation increases the slope of the track 14, and reduces the angularrange of the horizontal swinging.

In order to adjust or regulate the oscillatory action of the fan, meansare provided for changing both the inclination of the supporting haft 1:and the location of the ion center of .gravity. The inclination of theshaft 4 is controlled by a plate 23 on the base 5.1, as more clearlyshown in Fig. 3. This plate is formed so that at one side it is thickerthan at the other. A rim 24 fits around the base 5.1, and secures'theplate in position. A pin or lug 25 is formed on one side of the plate bymeans of which the plate may be moved around the base 1 for the purposeof adjusting the position of the thick and thin parts thereof withrespect to the base 5.1 so as to alter the inclination of the axis ofthe shaft at. The adjustment it may be locked in position on the fan.This construction provides forkgscillating the fan back and forth in ahorizontal plane at the same time that it is being tilted up and down ina vertical plane and provides means for regulating said movements. Themovements occur in the following manner: As the motor 2 rotates the fan1, the pinion 16 engaging the rack 15 causes a relative rotation of thesleeve 12 and the. shaft 4. This rotation of the sleeve causes thewave-like track 14 acting on the rollers 17 to tilt the fan up and downin the plane of the axis of the shaft, whereupon the fan swings back andforth as a result of gyratory action produced by' the tilting. If therotation of the fanis'clockwise, then looking at the front of the fanthe forward oscillation or swing to the left occurs during the downwardtilting, and the backward oscillation or swing to the right occursduring the upward tilting. The angularity of the horizontal oscillationsis controlled by the rate of change in the tilt of the fan, which inturn is de termined by the speed of the track. Theo retically, theforward oscillation of the fan should begin at the instant the fanbegins to tilt downward, and likewise should begin the backwardoscillation at the instant the upward tilting begins, but due to theinertia of the'parts the reversal of the oscillations is delayedmomentarily after the changes in direction of vertical tilting movement.

The angular range of horizontal oscillation may be regulated bytheinclination of the axis of such oscillation and by changing the locationof the center of gravity with respect to the track. may be controlled bythe shifting of the plate 23, and the latter by either the shifting ofthe plate 23 or the adjustment of the weight 26 or both. The greater theinclination of the axis of oscillation and the farther out the center of'gravity is from the axis of oscillation, the greater will be the loadon the forward roller 17 and the shorterthe angular range of horizontaloscillation. The

nearer the center of gravity is moved toward The former of these theaxis of rotation, the more uniform will be the pressure on both of therollers 17 and the greater will be the range of the horizontaloscillation.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention has been hereinshown and described, it will be understood that numerous details of theconstruction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from thespirit of this invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. In an air circulating device, the combination of a support, rotaryfan mechanism mounted to freely oscillate horizontally thereon, andmechanism for tilting said fan mechanism vertically, the center ofgravity of said fan mechanism being always noncoincident with the axisof oscillation, whereby gravity will cooperate with said tiltingmechanism to control the angular range of horizontal oscillation.

.2. The combination of a support, a pair of members journaled on saidsupport and capable of rotating relatively to each other, motor drivenmechanism tiltably mounted on one of said members, driving mechanismconnected to cause a relative rotation of said members, and coactingmeans on said motor driven mechanism and on the other said member.adapted to tilt said motor driven mechanism transversely to the planeof 1'0 tation of said members and thereby cause the oscillation of saidone member and said motor driven mechanism relative to said support, themass of said motor driven mechanism being disposed so that the center ofgravity thereof is always located at one side of the axis of oscillationof said members whereby gravity will be caused to regulate theoscillation of said mechanism.

3. The combination of a support, a pair of members journaled on saidsupport and capable of rotating relatively to each other, motor drivenmechanism tiltably mounted on one of said members, driving mechanismconnected to cause a relative rotation of said members, coacting meanson said motor driven .meehanism and on the other said member adapted totilt said motor driven mechanism transversely to the plane of rotationof said members and thereby cause the oscillation of said one member andsaid motor driven mechanism relative to said support, the mass of saidmotor driven mechanism being disposed so that the center of gravitythereof is always located at one side of the axis of oscillation of saidmemmes es motor driven mechanism tiltably mounted on one of saidmembers, driving mechanism connected to cause a relative rotation ofsaid members, and coacting means on said motor driven mechanism and onthe other said member adapted to tilt said motor driven mechanismtransverselyto the plane of rotation of said members and thereby causethe oscillation of said one member and said motor driven mechanismrelative to said support, said members being mounted on said supportwith the axis of rotation thereof inclined, whereby the center ofgravity of said motor driven mechanism is always lo cated at the sidetoward which said axis is inclined so as to regulate the oscillations ofsaid mechanism.

5. The combination of a support, a pair of members journaled on saidsupport and capable of rotating relatively to each other, motor drivenmechanism tiltably mounted on one of said members, driving mechanismconnected to cause a relative rotation of said members, coacting meanson said motor driven mechanism and on the other said member adapted totilt said motor driven mechanism transversely to the plane of rotationof said members and thereby cause the oscillation of said one member andsaid motor driven mechanism relative to said support, said members beingmounted on said support with the axis of rotation thereof inclined,whereby the center. of gravity of said motor driven mechanism is alwayslocated at the side toward which said axis is inclined so as to regulatethe oscillations of said mechanism, and means for varying theinclination of said axis.

6. The combination of a support, a pair of members journaled on saidsupport and capable of rotating relatively to each other, motor drivenmechanism tiltably mounted on one of said members, driving mechanismconnected to cause a relative rotation of said members, coacting meanson said motor driven mechanism and on the other said member adapted totilt said motor driven mechanism transversely to the plane of rotationof said members and thereby cause the oscillation of said one member andsaid motor driven mechanism relative to said support, the mass of saidmotor driven mechanism being disposed so that the center of gravitythereof is always located at one side of the axis of oscillation of saidmembers whereby gravity will be caused to regulate the oscillation ofsaid mechanism, and means shiftably mounted on said motor drivenmechanism so as to be adjusted for the purpose of altering the center ofgravity of said mechanism.

7. In an air circulating device, the combination of a support, blowermechanism mounted to oscillate thereon about an inclined axis, andmechanism fortilting said and coacting means on said blower mecha nismand said member adapted to tiltsaid blower mechanism in the plane of theaxis of said shaft, whereby said shaft will be caused to oscillaterelative to said support, the mass of said blower mechanism beingdisposed so that the center of gravity is always located forwardly ofsaid axis so as to regulate the oscillations.

9. in an air circulating device, the combination of a support, a shaftjournaled thereon, a member rotatably mounted on said supportconcentrically of said shaft, blower mechanism tiltably mounted on saidshaft, driving mechanism connected to cause arelative rotation of saidmember and shaft, and coacting means on said blower mechanism and saidmember-adapted to tilt said blower mechanism in the plane of the axis ofsaid shaft, whereby said shaft will be caused to oscillate relative tosaid support, the mass'of said blower mechanism being disposed so thatthe center of gravity is always located forwardly of said axis so as toregulate the oscillations, said support comprising two parts joined on aline inclined from a perpendicular to the axis of said shaft, said partsbeing relatively shiftable for the purpose of varying the inclination ofthe axis of said shaft.

10. In an air circulating device, the combination of a support,comprising a standard and a base, a shaft journaled on said standard,amember rotatably mounted on said support concentrically of said shaft,blower mechanism tiltably mounted on said shaft, driving mechanismconnected to cause a relative rotation of said member and shaft, andcoacting means on said blower mechanism and said member adapted to tiltsaid blower mechanism in the plane ofthe axis of said shaft, wherebysaid shaft will be caused to oscillate relative to said support, saidstandard being joined to said base with the axis of said shaft inclinedfrom a perpendicular to said base, so that the center of gravity of saidblower mechanism is located at one side of said axis.

11. In an air circulating device, the combination of a support,comprising a standard and a base, a shaft journaled on said standard, amember rotatably mounted on said support concentrically of said shaft,

blower mechanism tiltably mounted on said -to said base, so that thecenter of gravity of said blower mechanismis located at one side of saidaxis, and a plate shiftably connected to said base for the purpose ofvarying the inclination of said axis.

12. The combination of a support, a pair of members journaled on saidsupport and capable of rotating relatively to each other, motor drivenmechanism tiltably mounted on one of said members, driving mechanismconnected to cause a relative rotation of said members, coacting meanson said motor driven mechanism and on the other said member adapted totilt said motor driven mechanism transversely to the plane of rotationof said members and therebycause the oscillation of said one member andsaid mo tor driven mechanism relative to said support, the mass of saidmotor driven mechanism being disposed so that the center of theoscillation of said mechanism, and a weight shiftably mounted on saidblower mechanism and adapted to be adjusted to alter the location ofsaid center of gravity.

13. The combination of a support, a pair of members journaled on saidsupport and capable of rotating relatively to each other, motor drivenmechanism tiltably mounted on one of said members, driving mechanismconnected to cause a relative rotation of said members, coacting meanson said motor driven mechanism and on the other said member adapted totilt said motor driven mechanism transversely to the plane of rotationof said members and thereby cause the oscillation of said one member andsaid motor driven mechanism relative to said support, and meansshiftably mounted on said motor driven mechanism for shifting the centerof gravity thereof so as to control the oscillation thereof.

Signed at Chicago this 11th day of June 1915.

WILLARD M. MoEWEN.

